Some very interesting brain fitness software market news:

1) Scientific Learning To Buy Out Soliloquy

- “Scientific Learning Corp. has announced that it will acquire Soliloquy Learning from JTT Holdings. Both Scientific Learning and Soliloquy provide technology solutions for education. The acquisition will cost SLC about $11 million and is expected to be completed this month.”

- “Scientific Learning is the developer of Fast ForWord, a family of reading intervention tools targeted toward students who are characterized as struggling learners and designed to develop the required “neurocognitive skills” for reading and learning in general. Soliloquy is also a reading intervention developer.”

Comment: this acquisition consolidates Scientific Learning (NSDQ: SCIL) as the leading company in the education segment of the brain fitness market. It will be interesting to track what research gets done on the neural and cognitive effects of Soliloquy, since Scientific Learning’s Fast Forword is backed by extensive literature.

2) Technomedia Partners With SBT to Accelerate Its International Expansion

- “Technomedia, a Canadian provider of talent management and human capital development solutions, announced its partnership with the SBT (Scientific Brain Training) group, a European provider of training and evaluation of cognitive functions.”

Comment: this acquisition provides SBT an entry point into the North America HR services market, positioning it well for the expected growth in the HR & corporate training market focused on cognitive services.

3) The Brain’s Role in Trading Performance

- “Dr. Goldberg, co-author of the aforementioned chapter, suggests that engaging in tasks that require use of the frontal lobes may in fact strength their function. This has profound implications for the treatment of dementia and attention deficits and may also play an important role in improving performance at such cognitive tasks as trading. ”

- “Interestingly, the research cited in Dr. Goldberg’s chapter indicates that the prefrontal cortex is most involved in tasks that involve novelty. Familiar tasks that are routine do not require the same kind of attention, concentration, planning, and judgment. It may well be that tackling new, unfamiliar challenges is most stimulating to brain development, whereas routine (consider the lifestyles of many retired people) is least likely to enhance cognitive functioning.”

Comment: sound advice by Brett Steenbarger, a leading trading psychology expert. Indeed, there is no need to wait until one has a medical problem to start nurturing our brains…and we are seeing high-demand occupations (military, professional sports, traders) adding new tools to their toolkits.